The crowd gathered inside the monitoring room was already shocked.
“What did I just see? He brought his own little brothers to steal the grilled chicken from the neighboring team just to show off his leadership?”
“Just say whether the little brothers have eaten enough! They all got food, right? Who can say I, Ranbao, am not a qualified big brother!”
“I don’t know if he’s qualified or not, but Teacher Xie is pretty miserable. Now it’s too late to go hunting; I saw him gnawing on the leftover chicken tails that the little troublemaker didn’t finish…”
#TheTragedyOfActorXieInBigLetters#
In the dead of night, Xie Wei and Song Qing, the couple, sat together and began to figure out the mystery of the missing grilled chicken.
Xie Wei said, “The grill and the cave are less than ten meters apart. I went back once and then came out again, and the grilled chicken was gone. The little thief definitely didn’t run far. If it weren’t for your safety, I would have chased after him to catch him!”
After listening, Song Qing was also indignant: “Is this thief some kind of giant baby who can’t hunt or find food on his own, and actually dared to steal our food! No way, I must avenge my husband by punishing him for making him eat chicken tails!”
Xie Wei was touched by the first half where he defended him, but hearing the last sentence, he quickly stopped the topic, “No need to mention the chicken tails! Tomorrow, I’ll find some food, and we’ll try to lure the little thief out?”
“No! Catching thieves is such a hassle. What if everything gets stolen? It won’t be worth it!” Song Qing’s eyes suddenly lit up with an idea. He grabbed Xie Wei’s hand and whispered a secret in his ear.
Gradually, the surprise on Xie Wei’s face faded, his eyes brightened more and more, and finally, he nodded in agreement, “What you said makes sense…”
*
The next day, near noon, everyone rushed to the monitoring room and just happened to see three busy figures.
Su Ran was catching wild chickens, Qin Xiaohe sneaked into the forest to steal peaches, and Tong Wei was on the ship looking for rice and flour, trying to steam rice. Although all their efforts were messy, they showed a determined spirit.
Old Lu felt relieved and said, “Today they didn’t steal chickens but relied on their own efforts. Ranbao is making progress.”
Su Ning was reading a script without looking up and replied, “That’s because the neighboring cave group hasn’t cooked today, so they have to rely on themselves.”
Lu Huanjin tried to defend his wife, “At least they’re still very motivated now. When problems arise, they try to solve them within the puzzle, instead of asking the crew for help whenever they face difficulties and breaking the immersion. It’s only their second day in the group, they deserve praise.”
Everyone looked at this father and son pair who blindly praised Su Ran, feeling speechless. Well, as long as you’re happy.
But one thing was true. Su Ran’s trio really had a lot of drive today.
Grilled chicken, rice, coconut juice, and peaches filled the dining table. With staple food, meat dishes, drinks, and fruit for dessert, the three’s hard work all morning seemed quite fruitful.
Qin Xiaohe admired his masterpiece, then happily went back to the kitchen to wash his hands before going upstairs to call the two companions exploring the ship for clues, “Tong Tong, Brother Ran, it’s time to eat.”
The other two were already starving. Their eyes lit up green at the mention of food.
Tong Wei went downstairs while bragging happily, “Being able to eat a proper meal while stranded on a deserted island feels no different from being on vacation!”
Qin Xiaohe proudly said, “Isn’t that all thanks to our Brother Ran’s excellent guidance?”
Praised by these two little followers, Su Ran curled the corners of his lips with pride but, to keep up appearances, cleared his throat and reminded lightly, “Don’t get too proud. We’re on vacation, but some people are still living in caves. If we manage to catch a few more prey in the afternoon, we’ll return double to thank them for their timely help.”
“Brother Ran is right!”
“Of course, we brothers know how to be grateful!”
That sounded like they were some good youths who, after receiving help, knew to repay kindness.
The three happily went downstairs to the dining room, just about to feast. But when they took a closer look, their smiles slowly froze. After a moment, a heart-wrenching, anguished roar echoed throughout the entire ship: “Where’s the food? Damn it, where’s my luxury feast?!”
*
Backstage in the monitoring room, everyone was silent.
On the large screens to the left and right, two different scenes were live-streaming simultaneously. On one side, Su Ran’s trio was heartbroken, staring at the empty dining table with only leftover rice; on the other side, Xie Wei and Song Qing, the couple, were back in their cave, happily enjoying their meal.
This scene felt familiar…
It had just happened yesterday, but today the roles of the two groups had completely reversed.
Jiang Qiuxin asked in shock, “When did those two find out that the thief last night was Zhaocai? I followed the whole thing and never saw them discuss this topic. How did they just naturally start stealing back?”
Jiang Jinbao pondered for a moment, as if trying to put himself in Song Qing’s shoes. After a while, he slowly said, “Maybe Song Qing still hasn’t discovered who the thief is, but it can be understood like this: because he has been caught in the rain himself, he can’t forget to tear other people’s umbrellas when it’s raining…”
Bai Songyin, who had been busy recently assisting as a deputy director, peeked at the big screen and nodded seriously, then added, “From what I know about those two, Brother Song definitely thinks catching thieves is too troublesome. Rather than defending against thieves, it’s better to join the thief’s team. The next part of the story doesn’t even need watching to know what will happen.”
The assistant director, not yet familiar with the qualities of this group of actors, asked out of curiosity, “So, what do you think will happen next?”
Assistant Xiao Bai said something shocking: “My Brother Ran definitely thinks the same way. Rather than catching thieves, better to become thieves. They’ll definitely start stealing from each other next.”
Everyone else: …?
Are you young people really this ridiculous?!
Su Weisheng paused briefly, then turned to Jiang Qiuxin and beckoned him over, asking, “Is everything you were asked to prepare ready?”
Jiang Qiuxin shyly shook his head and reported quietly, “Little Great-grandfather, the props are ready, but our group of extras are not very obedient. I can’t get them to follow orders…”
“No problem. Just starve them for two meals,” Su Weisheng said with a meaningful smile. “It’s just right. Starving them for two meals makes it easier to push the plot forward.”
*
On the other side, Xiao Bai was actually right.
In the following three days, no one tried to catch any thieves. Instead, they started a mode of stealing from each other. They wouldn’t cook at home but kept an eye on the fire across from them. If the other side wasn’t cooking either, they would just find something to eat on their own and make do.
In short, no fires were lit, no meals were cooked, and all they wanted was to steal from the other side.
It didn’t look like they were filming a movie at all. It looked more like inviting guests to film a live reality show. Eventually, both sides got too hungry to bear it and finally called a truce.
On the ship, Xie Wei and Song Qing sat on the left side of the dining room, and Su Ran’s trio sat on the right side, separated clearly by a long table.
Song Qing, already dizzy and weak from hunger, reached out a trembling hand, pointing at Su Ran and asked faintly, “I want to ask you… Was it your group who stole our grilled chicken?”
Su Ran’s eyes were swirling with stars, and his breath was barely a whisper, but he still stubbornly retorted, “Stop playing the victim here. Wasn’t the big feast we made stolen by your side?”
And so, the eldest legitimate great-grandson and his trusted aides ended up fighting bitterly on set over grilled chicken.
In the end, it was Xie Wei who was a bit more mature and took the initiative to propose a solution: “This can’t go on. How about we cook together and share one big meal? That way, we don’t have to worry about food being stolen!”
The group glanced at each other and agreed it sounded feasible, nodding to settle the dispute. Thus, the two sides who had been scheming and sabotaging each other smoothly shifted from rivals to cooperative farmers.
Some were responsible for hunting, others went to the beach on the other side to catch fish, and some stayed in the kitchen to stir-fry and cook porridge. For the first time, both groups worked together wholeheartedly. It showed just how much they all craved a proper meal.
Although their cooking skills were lacking, when the aroma of food drifted from the ship, everyone became extremely excited. Song Qing, busy in the kitchen all morning, put on an apron and came out onto the deck, calling to everyone, “Come in and grab your dishes, it’s time to eat!”
Eat—such a beautiful word.
“Finally, we can have a real meal!”
“Haha, this time no more worrying about thieves stealing our food.”
The group chattered happily as they entered the kitchen, but their smiles froze once again.
“Where’s the food?”
“Damn it, why’s the food gone again?”
“I can’t take it anymore! Everyone’s here, so how is there still a thief stealing food?!”
“Ahhhh, if I can’t eat again, I’m really going to lose it!!!”
Song Qing’s expression was the most shocked of all. He rushed out and measured the distance from the kitchen to the deck—less than ten meters. “I only took a few steps, just turned around for a second—what kind of thief can swipe an entire pot of rice right from under my nose?!”
At this point, it wasn’t even about them not learning their lesson or being careless anymore—this was straight-up unscientific!
The others followed him out, scanning the surroundings in an attempt to find the whereabouts of that sinister little thief. Everyone was here—how could there still be a thief?
“Could it be someone from the peach grove over there came and stole it?”
“That would be shameless!” someone cursed furiously. “Even before, we’d only steal half and leave the rest. What bastard took the whole damn pot? I’m going to the peach grove right now to settle this!”
“Wait a second…”
Su Ran, with his sharp hearing, raised a hand to signal everyone to calm down, then warily looked toward the kitchen. “Why is there still rustling coming from inside? The rice thief might still be at the scene of the crime—go in and catch them!”
What? The rice thief actually dared to stay inside?!
Already burning with rage, the group grabbed sticks and forks from nearby and stormed toward the kitchen, full of righteous fury.
Xie Wei and Su Ran led the charge—one of them kicked the kitchen door open with brute force, catching the thief off guard. The other let out a loud, explosive shout: “Caught you, little thief! Prepare to die!”
The crowd surged in aggressively, only to be met with complete darkness. They couldn’t even make out the thief’s exact position.
Who turned off the lights?
Everyone was now inside the kitchen—only Song Qing was still at the back. He reached out and pressed the kitchen switch.
But for some reason, the sound that came from the switch wasn’t the usual crisp “click”. It was a low, soft thump… “dong…”
Yet no one noticed this detail.
Just as the group was aggressively scanning the kitchen in search of the thief, the lights suddenly flicked on. In that instant, they finally saw the “thieves” clearly.
The kitchen was filled with countless ghosts, densely packed and surrounding them from all sides. Each one had bluish-purple faces, blood-red eyes, and was staring straight at them. Some were clinging to the rice pot and eating, while others grinned widely at them, baring their blood-red mouths that reeked of a foul stench.
“Ah… you found us, huh…” one of the ghosts chuckled.
Everyone stood frozen in place.
“W-what the hell is that…”
“G-G-GHOSTS… There are ghosts!!!” someone shrieked, and a chorus of terrified screams erupted through the kitchen.
Among them, Su Ran had the loudest voice and the fastest reaction. Before the ghosts even started moving, he was already rolling and scrambling to escape, practically tumbling his way out of the room.
The backstage monitoring room had the clearest view.
Everyone there watched with wide eyes as the top star, known for his “intellect bordering on demonic” and his “mature and composed” image, completely collapsed in the face of actual vengeful spirits. However, his “cowardly but good at survival” persona remained rock solid—he even managed to shove a ghost down while escaping, knocking it over in the process, then bolted out of the encirclement at top speed.
Along the way, the top star even tripped and fell. But it didn’t matter—because he used that momentum to physically roll all the way out onto the deck.
It was obvious: this man had extensive experience dealing with ghosts.
